Hindi, the language spoken by 342 Million Native Speakers is spelled phonetically, that is, there is a 1-1 correspondence between “glyphs” (what we think of as “letters”) and sounds.
Hindi is one of India’s official languages but it is also spoken in Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Nepal. The language is a standardised form of Hindustani, as is Urdu. The Hindi language was standardised in the 19th century.
There are many English words which originate in the Hindi language. Examples of this include bungalow, guru, jungle, karma, mantra, nirvana, punch, pyjamas, shampoo and, of course, yoga!
